I’m very curious what the best hardwood is for making drawer components – sides, back, bottom. I am not interested in plywood options. I am planning on making quite a bit of drawers over the span of 2 kids’ rooms over the next couple of years. I’ll be using cherry as the primary species. Here’s my questions:

Is closed grain lumber better than open grain?

Is lighter colored lumber better than amber/reddish?

Is dense lumber less desirable?

Does the weight of the lumber matter?

I’m trying to find the best, usable, affordable species for the task. More specifically…

Anyone ever try elm (I have a cheap source of this)? Ash? Is ash brittle for cutting dovetails? Other most affordable hardwood? Is basswood possible (it’s cheap and light weight). Better to bite the bullet and go with maple? (not the cheapest, but isn’t too bad)

Also, what thickness for drawer box components? 1/2” or 3/8”? Do you resaw your drawer sides from 5/4 material?

I don’t have the cheapest poplar selection where I live. Ash I believe will be about as cheap as it comes most likely – due to the ash borer in neighboring states.

I’ve made drawers out of maple and ash and both work well. But I often use eastern white pine for drawer sides and backs, which is pretty traditional in North America as a secondary wood. While it’s weaker than hardwoods it’s very dimensionnally stable. There’s probably no single “best” wood for this.All the species you suggest would work, though I might tend toward elm, ash or maple rather than basswood (though I have little experience with it other than for carving, and looking at strength numbers it’s no weaker than the pine I already mentioned). If ash is cheap go for it – it’s extremely strong and generally fairly easy to work.As for the thickness of the sides, if I had 5/4 wood I’d resaw it, but if I had 3/4 inch thick stock I’d just use it as is rather than planing it down.

Thanks Jeremy – I do like the wood and sentiment of white pine. I know my local sawmill has pine – what if it’s yellow pine? Is this alright? I feel like if the pine gets a couple dings on the inside drawer components – it just adds to the character.

Ash is an open pore wood is it not? If so, does this pose any problems in regards to looks or function?

I’ve seen drawer sides made of maple, ash, poplar, pine, and probably other woods. The British, I believe, traditionally used oak. Pine would probably be my last choice due to it’s softness. If I understand the technique you plan to use, the drawer bottoms will ride on a wooden rail. That would be another reason to avoid pine, because a soft wood will wear faster. There is no reason to avoid an open grain wood like ash. Thickness of the sides depends somewhat on the size of the drawers, but 1/2” seems to be a standard thickness for dresser-sized drawers. I would re-think using solid wood on the bottoms. Thin plywood is easier and more stable.

There’s no problem at all in using solid wood for the bottoms, been done for centuries. Just make sure that, as TheFridge mentioned, they float, plus that the grain is oriented so that the bottoms expand and contract from front to back of the drawer (in other words, the grain on the bottom runs from side-to-side). The back of the drawer should be shorter than the front, so that the drawer bottom can slide in from the back. There should be a short slot in the bottom that gets a screw into the back piece.

I like poplar for drawer sides. I think in most situations 1/2” drawer sides are about right, for larger drawers a 5/8” is good. Maple or birch iis another good choice although more costly. Poplar is cheap and usually free of defects and machines well. I re-saw it from 4/4 stock. Although My BORG has poplar in 1/2” thickness, and sometimes I go that route if I am in a hurry, it is quite expensive that way. I usually use plywood for the bottoms because it is fast and cheap and and I don’t have to make wide glue ups and really no one cares what their drawer bottoms are made of as long as they are functional. That is unless I am making reproduction furniture. I have never used ash for drawer sides, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.